Unapproachable Light

"He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen." 1 Timothy 6:16

In a video titled, "What if Earth was closer or further from the Sun?" the following statements were made: "...it's a delicate balance. The smallest change could kill us all. If Earth's orbit were closer to the Sun, we would be like our closest neighbor, Venus. Venus is a pretty good example of what might happen to the earth if our orbit shifted a little bit in from where we are now. Venus has this hugely thick atmosphere that traps all of the heat. And the surface is close to 900 degrees. If we moved just a little bit closer to the Sun, we would become more like Venus. Oceans would boil away. Our planet would become a desert. Life would be destroyed. A small shift in the opposite direction and instead of boiling, we'd freeze. You would have "Snowball Earth;" the earth completely encased in ice. And that is only by moving the earth a fraction of its distance from the Sun. The polar ice caps would expand. Oceans would freeze. A permanent ice age will begin. The smallest shift in earth's orbit and we die by fire or ice." Scientists state that 99.86% of the mass of our solar system is made up by the Sun. The Sun is so large that 1.3 Million Earths would fit inside of it. The craziest thing is that the Sun is not even close to being the largest star in our galaxy. When I see all these descriptions of our universe, it is difficult not to think of the words of the psalmist. "When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place— what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him (Psalm 8:3-4)?" It is humbling to think of how big God is when compared to mankind. We are made out to be insignificant in comparison to the celestial bodies just in our part of the universe. Then we have a God who is indescribably larger than all of that. No wonder the scriptures tell us, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).”When you think about the "delicate balance" between life and death that we teeter on based off of the positioning of the earth and the Sun, it gives us a perfect example of God's relationship with man and His desire to restore us to a more perfect union with Himself.

The Bible says that God "dwells in unapproachable light." He is like the Sun in relation to our Earth. In His true form, God could not approach us or we would be consumed by His light. Similarly, we cannot approach Him because the light would be too much for us to withstand; hence, the unapproachable light. Therefore, in His love for us, what did God do in order to begin to establish a relationship with us? He revealed Himself to us in pieces; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When speaking of the attitude of Jesus Christ, scriptures says He, "emptied Himself, having taken the form of a servant, having been made in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:7)." God emptied Himself when He came to earth as Jesus Christ. In essence, He turned on the dimmer switch in order so He could approach us and we could approach Him. When it comes to the Sun, the best we can do to have a "relationship" with it is to go outside and bask in its rays. We can enjoy its warmth, the beautiful, sunny days, and the energy it provides. But, even that can only go so far. We can never get any closer to it and too much of the Sun can have adverse effects on us. When it comes to our relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, God has come so near to us that He lives inside of us! Furthermore, because of this truth, we will have an eternity to get to know Him. There are those whose relationship with God is nothing more than that similar to the one we have with the Sun. We know it is there. We see its effect on our world and our lives. However, our knowledge of it is relegated to looking at it from the perspective of others who have studied it. Although, you have to ask, what can you truly know about something that is 93 million miles away from you and that you will never be able to approach to fully understand? It is interesting that we cannot have a relationship with the Sun, but we can have a relationship with the God who created it. The Sun cannot diminish itself into parts in order to get closer to us like God. Yet, God, in Christ, became approachable by becoming like us. There are those people who believe that mankind cannot possibly be alone in the universe; believing that due to the vast size of the universe, there has to be life on other planets. I look at it quite the opposite. I agree that we are not alone, but it is because God has created the Sun, the stars, and the heavens above to remind us of His presence. All we have to do is place faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, for the relationship to begin.